Customer Reviews

Apex AD-2500 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I owned a Toshiba DVD player for three years.
However, it couldn't play CDR/DVD- R, so I decided
to get a new toy. I first bought a Sony NS315 from
Circuity City, for according the ads, the Sony
plays DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW, it was cheap too
(...) and I had always worshiped Japanese brands
(all my electronics are made by Sony, Panasonic or
Toshiba, except my last MP3 player, the Iriver ifp
180t, found in Best buy). Then one day I saw a
review on [Amazon.com], for the same price, the Apex
2500 plays everything! I love the word
"everything", so I decided to give Apex 2500 a
try. I searched the net, though Sears advertised
it on it's web, the local store didn't carry it. I
ended up ordering one by mail from J&R in New York
(...).

I got this unit two days ago, and I found I am
obligated to write my experience here. In summary,
I am more than satisfied, it is an astonishing
unit, full of surprises!

1. Amazing picture, better than that from my Sony
or Toshiba.

2. Plays MPEG movies: when plays MPG movies, the
quality is comparable with that on my computer,
even better than the output of my computer when
using a TV! (I have a regular Panasonic TV, no a
progressive one).

2. Plays DVD-R/RW (not sure about DVD+R/RW).

3. Plays PAL DVDs. I didn't expect this! Just
tried on some DVDs friends brought me from China,
Thailand and Canada and it plays them all.

4. Plays JPEG pictures: the picture quality is very
impressive.

5. Progressive scan: I don't have a high
definition TV, not benefitting from this feature,
but it doesn't hurt.

6. Plays MP3/WMA.

7. Plays CDR/RW.

8. Karaoke capabilities built right in: there are
two microphone inputs. I didn't expect these
neither. Another surprise!

9. Optical/Coaxial/S-video/Dolby, all the usual good stuff.

10. For those interested, it could display menu in Chinese.

11. Stylish: yes, sexy and good looking!

12. Cheap, cheap and cheap: ... for all the above

features!

I am going to return the Sony. no more superstitious
on Japanese brands!

Weakness: the audio output maybe not be as
impressive as my Toshiba; The buttons
on remote control could be more intuitive and meaningful.

This dvd player will play anything you throw at. All my collection of mp3,VCD,SVCD,DVD-R and DVD-RW all play in this machine that my Pioneer DV 333 will not. I am big name shopper who like to shop top of the line electronic from panasonic, sony, and pioneer. But his Apex proves me that I am wrong. This player accepted most comprehensive media format including my Kodak CD slide show created from my digital camera download. I even downloaded funny TV ads in Window media player and burn into a CD and Yeah..it plays on this DVD player. I even surprise to see that my music DVD created with Sonic DVDit SE in PCM ( uncompressed format) plays too. Now I think I wont be shopping another dvd player with multi format support for a longer time.I am getting another one for my parents.

Apex AD-2500 Progressive Scan DVD Player key strengths are: (1) Picture quality, (2) Integrated feature set; and (3) Multiformat. Picture quality is bright and vibrant, colors are reasonably well saturated and balanced, with images being decently detailed with satisfactory contrast and shadow delineation. Even with DVD's of my home made movies, aliasing problems, moire patterns and pixel fragmentation were minimal. The setup menu provides access to a well laid out menu, and all features can be set through software. For example, unlike my Pioneer 525, which has a manual switch on the back of the unit, I can change between S-Video and component video conveniently through software with the remote control. Although the instructions advise to not have all cables (RCA, S-Video and Component) connected at once, I encountered no problems doing so. The major features are complementary and work well together. Lastly, the multiformat enables the unit to play everything from commercial DVD's to DVD-R/W. Dolby Digital 5.1 is OK with 2 speakers but a tad weak with surround; system probably needs a bit more wattage to generate a more completely immersive listening experience.

If I had seen Apex sooner, I could have saved hundreds of dollars when I purchased my RCA and Samsung models.
I am really happy with this model and I was extremely surprised that it had a karaoke system. It's not as good as my Pioneer, because the echo quality isn't there, however, I can't complain for the price. It's a great back up!
I like being able to play vcd's,mp3's,view photo album's etc.
I was so pleased, that I had to order one for my father.
I plan on purchasing another one to replace my broken model in the bedroom.
What good is paying a lot of money for some of the big name brands when they don't perform as well? Are extremely sensitive to slightly scratched rented dvd's by freezing up.
This model has not done that!
For my experience, I'd recommend it and use your savings for something exciting.

I just recently discovered and purchased the Apex AD-2500 Progressive-Scan DVD Player. I've been searching for one that would play the variety of formats I use, and when I discovered it would actually DO MORE than what it claimed, (unlike many descriptions of other players), I snapped it up. It plays VCD, SVCD, DVD, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW (the biggest surprise!), plus Kodak picture disks, WMA, MP3 and Karoke! A lot of player for the money. It's too new (to me) yet to comment on its durability, but so far, so good.

My player is just out of the box, and I understand from reading the other reviews I only have a 50/50 chance of it surviving very long, but I don't care... this thing is amazing. I've spent I don't know how many hundreds of hours screwing around with jpeg slide-show programs, ripping and encoding vcds that my expensive DVD player didn't like, having to convert and burn music cds from my mp3 files... and on and on.
So now for all of [item price] I get a piece of hardware that hooks up to my tv and plays almost every type of media that exists! Thanks to these cheapo players from Asian mystery companies, I can only assume that the big companies will have no choice but to follow suit with reliable, inexpensive players of thier own.
This is the future, and it should have been here a long time ago. The future is cheap, universal hardware, not a zillion different third-party applications that force you through countless contortions on your computer so you can watch your media in your living room. Huzzah!

This is a pretty good DVD player. The Picture is Awesome when its working and the sound is outstanding. Perfect for surround sound (5.1). Everything worked good with a few exceptions. After about 60 minutes of watching a DVD the sound gave out through the optical. Now that doesnt work at all anymore but the analog is still ok. Movie often freeze and frames get skipped, as if too much information was being read by the laser. Mp3 sounds great but some songs would skip on a perfectly clean CD. VCD's don't play too well on this player. Overall this is an "ok" product for 60 dollars. Everything else works fine so far. But I'd go with a major name brand next time. I will probably return this item soon.

I've had this DVD player for about 2 months, and it's worked great so far with one exception. On some dvd movies the motor in the dvd player starts to vibrate. The sound can be annoying unless you turn the volume up. After a few minutes, the noise goes away.

The dvd player has paused for a few seconds on a couple of movies. This is acceptable. I've watched an est. of 20 dvd movies with this player so far. Also, I've owned the dvd player for about 3 months. The video quality is excellent.

Home dvd's played fine on the player. I don't use the dvd to play mp3's, vcd, or other formats.

I wouldn't buy it as the main dvd player for a home theater setup due to the vibration on some dvds (unless it's just my dvd player.) It's kind of embarrassing(the vibration) if you have visitors over, but it's a good second dvd player for the price.

Btw. Netflix rocks. If you rent a lot of dvd movies at blockbuster, you may want to look into Netflix. Extremely easy to use and you can go rental crazy. Don't want to pay 4 dollars to see a movie you know you probably won't like, but you have a curiosity to see it ...Netflix may be for you.

... This is the most full featured DVD player on the market today. Not only does it flawlessly play every one of the advertised formats (DVD, VCD, SVCD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, and HDCD-encoded discs... all of which can be on burned CDs, I burned a 400mb .mpg file all by itself (not in VCD format) onto a CD-R and popped it in. It showed right up in the list that would normally be used for MP3s. Hit play on the icon.... played just fine! Also, for VCD or SVCDs that don't have "chapters" like a normal DVD to jump to, this player will actually scan through the disc and create it's own 15 pictured indexes for you!

I bought my Apex because of it's high compatibilies and functions; it has that, but ... The player is of low quality build. The remote stopped working after about a month; the player has problem properly decoding after powering off after a few months. Then it has problem playing periold. And finally, the disk loading tray won't even open after less than 11 months. It's not worth the trouble with Apex DVD player; there are plenty of other brands that can play vcd and other formats.
On previous review, I gave it a 2 stars, but now that it has died, it deserves the 1 star that it is truly worth. Had I written a review a 2, 3 weeks after I bought the item, I would probably gave it 5 stars becuase of its attractive price and many features, but 2 weeks is not enough time to see the quality and reliability of a product. Stay away from Apex DVD player.